Monday, 19 August 2019

TRUMP & G7 Invade BIARRITZ

A composite image: Trump in France

'Trump, il arrive', a total stranger told me on the bus. The Seven
Summiteers arrive in Biarritz on Friday. But it's Trump who sucks up the oxygen. He'll feel right at home swanning around the newly renovated late 19the C, Hotel du Palais (see LMPs 'BIARRITZ: surfers& chic), where the group will bunk down. The center of Biarritz, including the Grande
Plage, will be blocked off. Residents and people connected with the meeting must wear I.D. hangtags. Tried to come up with a brilliant idea to score an accreditation. Drew a blank.

Instead, I went to Biarritz for five days to investigate. Talked to people who worked in hotels, restaurants, stores, bars. Not much reaction - just we'll wait and see. Biarritz and the Hotel du Palais have had famous guests since Queen Victoria made it the place to summer. The hotel I stayed in was smack in the center. And will be a perfect hang-out for the press. But a four-day wifi wipe-out, like we had, would cause a riot. I asked the receptionist what they would do. Her solution: got to their other hotel not far away.

5 Towns in Pays Basque - Biarritz, surfers and chic (2013 edit)

President Macron wants to show off 'la Gloire de la France'. Three connected towns, Bayonne, Anglet, Biarritz (pop. Approx. 200,000), have been torn up for two years, to build roads for the new12 million euro electric tram-bus. Pedestrian spaces have been created and some streets eliminated. All three towns are gleaming, ready for the Big Show. Even if the world leaders don't accomplish one thing, they will have a cushy weekend in the Pays Basques and plenty of champagne to celebrate.
Before they head back home to real-life and a potential Force 5
economic hurricane. CHEERS!

Sources: Sud-Ouest, personal experience

Next week: Is Finland SOCIALIST?

Contact: maggy@magfell.pp.fiNote: Not much to add, yet. It will be interesting to see what kind of horrible hilarities ensue this time...